Tag Archives: strict-vegetarian
Why a Plant-Based (aka Vegan) Diet? The films that tell the story
Sometimes it’s hard to tell someone about eating a whole-foods, plant-based diet without sounding like you are proselytizing – a big no, no IMO. So offering a film that says it all in a non-threatening way is a gret way to go. It worked for us. A friend gave us Mike Andersen’s Eating DVD – right on the heels of having read T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study – and that changed the food habits of five or six people.
There are some superb films and DVDs that have been produced recently that make a clear case for a WFPBD. This my list of personal favorites:
Forks Over Knives (2011) created by Brian Wendel, featuring T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell Esselstyn and Neal Barnard
Got the Facts on Milk? (The Milk Documentary) (2011, 2007) by Shira Lane. Effectively questions the health benefits of milk and dairy products. Features T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell Esselstyn and Neal Barnard
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (2010) by Joe Cross. A personal documentary of a person with an autoimmune disease taking back his health care and trading in his pills for a juicer.
Fresh (2009) by Ana Jones. Features Joe Salatin, Will Allen, David Ball. Takes a hard look at our food production system and the negative impact of agribusiness. Takes up where Food, Inc. leaves off adding possible solutions.
Eating, 3rd Ed. (2008) a DVD on the RAVE Diet by Mike Andersen (also a book). An earlier version of this film convinced us to change from a whole-foods, sugar & meat-free diet to a total Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet (a bigger change than one might think).
Food Inc. (2008) directed by Robert Kenner. Features Michael Pollack. Champions more compassionate treatment of meat animals, but does not support a plant-based-only diet
Food Matters (2008) by James Colquhoun & Laurentine ten Bosch. Features Charlotte Gerson, Andrew Saul, Dan Rogers, David Wolfe,
Fast Food Nation (2006). Looks at the destructive impact of eating meat on health, animals and the environment
Super Size Me (2004). Morgan Spurlock’s 30-days on a McDonald’s-only diet
Foodmatters
Reference List for Plant-Based (aka Vegan) Gurus
While I don’t agree completely with any of these sources, they are, IMO, all very good and each makes a solid case for his/her slightly different perspective.
T. Colin Campbell, PhD
The China Study (2004)
Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure (2008)
Joel Fuhrman, MD
Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition (2011)
Annemarie Colbin, PhD
The Whole-Food Guide to Strong Bones: A Holistic Approach (2009)
Neal Barnard, MD
Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs (2008)
Andrew Weill, MD
Spontaneous Happiness (2011)
Mark Hyman, MD
The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now! (2012)
John McDougall, MD
The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good! (2012)
Dean Ornish, MD
The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, and Gain Health (2008)
Joan Dye Gussow, PhD
Growing, Older – A Chronicle of Death, Life and Vegetables (2010)
For how we got into this mess and what we need to do to get out of it:
David Kessler’s The End of Overeating
Doug Lisle’s The Pleasure Principle
Stewart Brand’s The Whole Earth Discipline
And for the best overall, easy to understand take on WFPBD, I love Julieanna Hever’s Complete Idiots Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
Reverse Type 2 Diabetes with a Plant-Based Diet?
One in 10 Americans suffer from Diabetes Meillitus Type Two — one in four over the age of 60. 285 billion people world-wide represent a 10-fold increase in 25 years, and one in two will have the disease or a precursor by 2020. Today the annual cost to the US Health care system alone is almost $180 billion – and it will continue to grow to $3.5 trillion in just a decade.
Billions of dollars are spent on hundreds of drugs designed to manage the disease – Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors,Biguanides, Meglitinides, Sulfonylureas, Thiazolidinediones plus injectibles like exenatide, mitiglinide, pramlintide, sitagliptin, saxagliptin….
But still serious complications persist – glaucoma, cataracts, kidney disease, heart attacks, hypertension, hearing loss, gum disease, gastroparesis, ketoacidosis, depression, neuropathy, peripheral arterial disease, stress, stroke, damaged nerves, skin disorders, Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Nonketotic Syndrome……
WHAT IF THERE WAS A CURE? A magic bullet that could make all of this go away? Change lives, save billions of dollars, and deep six one of the world’s most prevalent, damaging diseases.
There is! According to a ground-breaking study published in Diabetologia, Type 2 Diabetes can be reversed in one to eight weeks! The secret? A low glycemic load, high-fiber, whole-foods, plant-based diet!
REFERENCES:
Reversal of type 2 diabetes: normalization of beta cell function in association with decrease pancreas and liver triglycerides Diabetologia; DOI 10.1007/s00125-011-2204-7 E. L. Lim & K. G. Hollingsworth & B. S. Aribisala & M. J. Chen & J. C. Mathers & R. Taylor
Cow’s Milk given to infants may create Type 1 Diabetes
Ten statistically significant studies demonstrate a noteworthy increase in Juvenile Onset (Type 1) Diabetes in children who were not breast fed and, instead, were given cows’ milk during the first two years of life.
According to T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. “A very specific sequence of 17 amino acids found in cows’ milk generated production of a specific antibody and that antibody … discovered exactly the same 17 amino acid sequence on the cells of the pancreas that was producing the insulin.” Once it attacked those cells, that child’s pancreas could no longer produce insulin – ever.
It is also now known, for example, that certain children have a much greater genetic susceptibility to the cow’s milk amino acid sequence with the additional presumption that, perhaps, these children were also exposed to a particular kind of virus as well. So, according to Dr. Campbell, Type 1 Diabetes could result from an unhappy combination of genetically susceptible children being exposed to cows’ milk and perhaps also to a certain kind of virus.”
Remarkably, the association between Type 1 Diabetes and cows’ milk coupled with high-risk genes, is even greater than the relationship between smoking and lung cancer. A 12-country study demonstrated that the higher the consumption of cows milk, the higher the incidence of type 1 Diabetes. Since 1992, The Academy of Pediatrics has warned against giving cows’ milk to children younger than one for a variety of reasons so one must wonder why this information is not more widely publicized.
According to Sayer Ji, on WakeUp-World.com, “in genetically susceptible individuals the consumption of cow’s milk may trigger an autoimmune destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas which produce insulin. A new study published in the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, has shed light on a possible new mechanism behind this connection.
“Finnish researchers looked at 1113 infants with a genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and who were randomly assigned to receive one of three infant formulas during the first 6 months of life whenever breast milk was not available:
- Cow’s milk formula (CMF)
- Whey-based hydrolyzed formula (WHF)
- Whey-based formula free of bovine insulin (insulin-free CMF)
“Beta cell autoimmunity was monitored at ages 3,6, and 12 months and then annually until 3 years of age. The results were reported as follows: Since 1992, The Academy of Pediatrics has warned against giving cows’ milk to children younger than one for a variety of reasons so one must wonder why this information is not more widely publicized.
“In comparison with ordinary CMF, weaning to an insulin-free CMF reduced the cumulative incidence of autoantibodies by age 3 years in children at genetic risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus. The likelihood of finding autoantibodies associated with beta cell autoimmunity was 25% lower in the whey-based hydrolyzed formula group, and 61% lower in the insulin-free whey-based formula when compared with the cow’s milk formula group”.
REFERENCES:
“Insulin-free whey-based cow’s milk formula is associated with lower incidence of beta cell autoimmunity in infants and young children.” Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012 Mar 5. Epub 2012 Mar 5. PMID: 22393174
Committee on Nutrition. “The Use of Whole Cow’s Milk in Infancy” Pediatrics Vol. 89 No. 6 June 1, 1992; pp. 1105 -1109
Hammond-McKibben D, and Dosch H-M. “Cow’s milk, bovine serum albumin, and IDDM: can we settle the controversies?” Diabetes Care 20 (1997): 897-901
Karjalainen J, Martin JM, Knip M, et al. “A bovine albumin peptide as a possible trigger of insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus.” New Engl. Journ. Med 327 (1992): 302-307
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“Insulin-free whey-based cow’s milk formula is associated with lower incidence of beta cell autoimmunity in infants and young children.” Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012 Mar 5. Epub 2012 Mar 5. PMID: 22393174
Committee on Nutrition. “The Use of Whole Cow’s Milk in Infancy” Pediatrics Vol. 89 No. 6 June 1, 1992; pp. 1105 -1109
Hammond-McKibben D, and Dosch H-M. “Cow’s milk, bovine serum albumin, and IDDM: can we settle the controversies?” Diabetes Care 20 (1997): 897-901
Karjalainen J, Martin JM, Knip M, et al. “A bovine albumin peptide as a possible trigger of insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus.” New Engl. Journ. Med 327 (1992): 302-307
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Hotel Tips for Plant-Eaters
A lot of my travel finds me in hotel rooms with limited room service menus and even more limited restaurants. I usually have a list of possibilities from HappyCow.com but very often, it’s late and traipsing around unfamiliar territory looking for an obscure address (or a casual dining restaurant that can at least rustle up a baked potato and broccoli) gets very old very fast.
So I always try to travel with some quick fixes that I can eat in the room. We keep a basket on the kitchen desk to toss in “finds” to pack for the next trip.
The things I am always looking for are easy, lightweight snacks that I can prepare in a hotel room with hot water from the coffee maker (be sure that you swing out the basket other the water will take like coffee – the oils cling to everything). It has to come with its own bowl or work in a hotel cup.
An all-time favorite is Instant Miso Soup – Kikkoman makes several variations that are readily available – usually three to a package. And they also make a good Wakame Soup as well.
Another good bet are the vegan quick fixes form Thai Kitchen – two with their own bowls are
Kitchen’s Instant Rice Noodle Soup: Garlic & vegetable and Spring Onion
Rice Noodle Soup Bowls: Roasted Garlic, Mushroom, Spring Onion, Hot & Sour
Instant oatmeal, is a great standby – but not so necessary any more as most hotel dining rooms will provide real oatmeal. But it’s quick and easy and works in a mug
If the travel distance isn’t too great, I throw in a few extra small container of Hummus – see the earlier post on “Hummus is a Gel” which is a reminder that only small packets will work.
Nuts – almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews – in small packages
Dr. John McDougall Challenges Paula Dean
Whole-food, plant-based Diet Guru John McDougall has challenged cook book author and TV personality Paula Dean to a bet. He has invited Ms. Dean, who recently admitted that she has Type 2 Diabetes, to spend ten days at his center learning how to eat healthfully.
Dr. McDougall’s bet: “Would we love a trim-looking Paula Deen on a cooking show? How would we react if she lost weight and cured her diabetes right in front of our eyes? I am willing to make a giant effort to help Paula help herself and America become trimmer and healthier. I am publically inviting her to my 10-day, live-in clinic in Santa Rosa, CA. As an added incentive, I am offering her a Mitt Romney size bet* that my Program will change her personal health and her style of cooking on her future TV shows. Furthermore, if she attends my program and does not make the significant positive changes that I predict, then I will be a guest on her cooking show and eat sliced beef wrapped in bacon strips and fried in chicken fat. Otherwise, if the McDougall Program does, as I confidently predict, cause her to lose weight, lower her blood sugar, and get her off her diabetic drugs, then she will agree to be a speaker at my next Advanced Study Weekend, September 7-9, 2012, and prepare a five-course, low-fat vegan meal with a starch centerpiece, ending with a healthy dessert.”
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2012nl/jan/deen.htm
Sadly, it appears that she is using this platform to promote the diabetes drug, Victoza.